Academy Names 104 Films Eligible for Original Score Oscar

A total of 104 scores from eligible feature-length motion pictures released in 2012 are in contention for nominations in the Original Score category for the 85th Academy Awards, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced Monday.

Composer Danny Elfman is responsible for five of the eligible scores, making the list with his music for "Dark Shadows," "Frankenweenie," "Hitchcock," "Men in Black 3" and "Promised Land." He could have had a sixth in contention, since the Weinstein Company was campaigning for his work on "Silver Linings Playbook" — but according to an Academy spokeswoman, that score fell afoul of rules requiring "a substantial body of music that serves as original dramatic underscoring" and insisting that the music not be "diminished in impact by the predominant use of songs."

To qualify, scores must also be written specifically for the motion picture by the submitting composer. Scores diluted by the use of tracked themes or other preexisting music — like the biggest musical of the year, "Les Miserables" — or assembled from the music of more than one composer are not eligible.

Still, the always-particular branch made exceptions for 10 scores written by a pair of composers, including "Beasts of the Southern Wild" (Dan Romer and Benh Zeitlin), "Lawless" (Nick Cave and Warren Ellis), "The Man With the Iron Fists" (RZA and Howard Drossin) and "Cloud Atlas" (Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek).

In the case of the last film, co-director Tom Tykwer had been listed as a third co-composer on Warner Bros. "For Your Consideration" ads, but is not included on the AMPAS credit list.

Other composers with multiple entries include Alexandre Desplat ("Argo," "Rise of the Guardians" and "Zero Dark Thirty"), James Newton Howard ("Darling Companion," "The Hunger Games" and "Snow White and the Huntsman") and Marco Beltrami ("The Sessions," "Trouble With the Curve" and, with Buck Sanders, "Deadfall").

A Reminder List of works submitted in the Original Score category will be made available with a nominations ballot to all members of the Music Branch, who will then vote in the order of their preference for not more than five achievements. The five achievements receiving the highest number of votes will become the nominations for final voting for the award.

The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live at 5:30 a.m. PST on Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, in the Academy's Samuel Goldwyn Theater. The winners will be announced at the Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center, and televised live on the ABC.